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Bianca Mlilo, Business Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Investment Authority (ZIA) plans to devolve its operations as a way of promoting investment, an official has said.
Devolution is the administrative decentralisation of powers from the central government of a state to sub-national level such as regional or local level.
Devolved territories have the power to make legislation relevant to the area. Presently all administrative concerns are being run from the capital, Harare.
ZIA chief executive officer Mr Richard Mbaiwa told delegates at a conference held by the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce last Friday that this was meant to generate more investment from the previously marginalised areas.
He was responding to a question raised by a delegate who had asked if the concept of devolution would ever see the light of day at the investment authority.
“Very soon ZIA will devolve, which means we’ll have offices even as far as Binga and in other far off areas. We’ll deploy regional economists to different regions,” said Mr Mbaiwa.
“We’ll be able to provide investment facilitation services in all parts of the country.”
He also said they were working with independent investment consultants in their ongoing national branding exercise.
Mr Mbaiwa also said a foreign company could remit the totality of its profits to its mother company, provided it meets all the conditions stipulated by the investment body.
“If all formal channels of registering projects are met, then yes, a foreign company can remit 100 percent of its profits to its mother country,” Mr Mbaiwa said.
Meanwhile, Indigenisation Minister Patrick Zhuwao said his ministry had concluded the amendments to the indigenisation policy.
He denied accusations that his ministry was taking too long to amend the law saying the time being taken was because it (indigenisation policy) has to be aligned with other laws and consultations should be made with other line ministries.
@BiancaMlilo
Online Reporter